Bakkt, the crypto-trading platform established by InterContinental Exchange, operator of the New York Stock Exchange, will be launched in Q3 2019, said Fundstrat managing director.

According to Sam Doctor, Fundstrat Global Advisors managing director and strategist, ICE will launch Bakkt, the crypto-trading platform, within the current quarter.

“We think #Bakkt could be a huge catalyst for institutional participation in the #crypto market. Here are our takeaways from the Bakkt institutional summit yesterday at the NYSE...," Doctor wrote on Twitter, attaching a screenshot of the report Fundstrat on the results of the event.

The summit took place on 18 July and was attended by more than 150 investors and institutional-grade service providers, as well as representatives of the US financial authorities. Thus, Dawn Stump, a commissioner from Commodity Futures Commission (CFTC), noted that cryptocurrency does not threaten financial stability. He also admitted that the regulator sees a growing public interest in bitcoin futures, so the CFTC took a more open stance towards financial innovations.

According to the document, the test launch of Bakkt will take place today, on 22 July. After that, during the current quarter, Bakkt will be launched in a full-featured format.

The Fundstrat report also mentions statements of Ari Paul, CIO of Blocktower, who told that the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies would be enormous once a killer application makes crypto on-ramps safe, reliable and as easy to use as PayPal.

The main difference between bitcoin futures on Bakkt and bitcoin derivatives on other traditional platforms is that Bakkt contracts include physical supply of pegged cryptocurrencies. Unlike cash contracts, such as those on the Chicago-based CME, Bakkt customers will receive bitcoins after the expiration date of the contract.